Looking for good book(s) on fantasy writing

[thecornflake]

I'm looking for some good books to inspire/help my fantasy writing. I've only really found one on Amazon that appeals to me which is the Complete Fantasy Writer's reference. I'm looking for more background and inspiration than a guide on the craft of writing - something covering worldbuilding, characters/races, technology, magic etc would be good.

 

[kater]

I've only ever bought one, which was Orson Scott Card's How to write Science Fiction and Fantasy. I bought it because I was interested in what he had to say rather than wishing to use it as a definitive guide. It gave me a lot of ideas to be fair and I have used it more extensively than I thought I would

 

[Expendable]

For fantasy, the best reference isn't in a book - it's a web page. Patricia Wrede's Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions. They make a great addition to a writer's reference notebook.

For some basic fantasy elements, see The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones - it's in fun but covers a lot of the basics.

Some fairy tales books like Grim's Fairy Tales - I suggest looking at Project Gutenberg for fairy tale books - they're a great fantasy reference.

It doesn't hurt to have yourself a library of fantasy.

 

[Expendable]

Something else that might help is collecting information on the uses of herbs and plants in healing (and poison), life in a medieval castle, town & monastery and wilderness survival.

Actually building a small camp fire and lighting it with flint and steel will help you write about your characters making such a fire. Just don't do this inside your house.

Knowing some history helps too.

 

[Banger]

I second Card's book

 

[Expendable]

Magic's sort of tricky, you really want to make up your own way of magic rather than use anyone else's. Most go the elemental route.

 

[tracyt1800]

I'm looking for some good books to inspire/help my fantasy writing.

Stephen King's "On Writing" really inspired me to get back to writing. It wasn't so much an aid to my fantasy writing, though, as it was an aid to get me to sit down and actually write.

I really enjoyed that book and always recommend it to friends that write or want to write.

 

[David Forbes]

Another vote for the Card and King books. (I prefer King's, but both are good.)

 

[Kathryn]

I enjoyed...

Worlds of Wonder- How to write Fantasy by Davis Gerrold
Word Painting- A guide to writing more desciptively by Rebecca Mcclanahan
Lessons from a Writing Life- Sometimes the Magic Works by Terry Brooks
Quote from opening Page
"This is for writers yet to be published who think the uphill climb will never end. Keep believing. This is also for published writers grown jaded by the process. Remember how lucky you are"

Card's book also gets a vote from me also!

 

[Banger]

Another vote for the Card and King books. (I prefer King's, but both are good.)

King's book was great for motivation and sticking with it, plus it serves as a mini-biography. I don't recall any of his writing tips though

 

[Evil Agent]

Doesn't Ursula LeGuin have a pretty good one about writing fantasy and sci-fi?

 

[ricoboc]

Try this:

Wizardry and Wild Romance : A Study of Epic Fantasy by Michael Moorcock

Steering the Craft : Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew by Ursula K. Le Guin


A good idea is to read and learn from your favorite books. Study how your favorite writers developed worlds of their own.


Orson Scott Card also has another book available: Characters & Viewpoint. This is a fantastic book for writers of all levels.

 

[The Dark Truth]

Worlds of Wonder was worth reading just for the 3 small chapters about metric prose, memes, and e-prime. Gerrold had some interesting chapters about writing ideas I had not read elsewhere.

King's On Writing was a good book to gain inspiration from; however, I did not get much from his advice on the technical aspects of writing beyond stuff I had already seen elsewhere.

I have Card's Characters & Viewpoints, but have not read it yet. Looking forward to it as I have heard nothing but positive things about it. Another one I also have, but need to make time to read is Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces which examines hero myths from cultures around the world supposedly revealing the one archetypal hero in them all. Should be interesting even though I am not a big fan of the stock hero.

 

[Banger]

I have Card's Characters & Viewpoints, but have not read it yet. Looking forward to it as I have heard nothing but positive things about it. Another one I also have, but need to make time to read is Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces which examines hero myths from cultures around the world supposedly revealing the one archetypal hero in them all. Should be interesting even though I am not a big fan of the stock hero.

I recommend Characters & Viewpoint. It provides good explanations of character motivation and POV and provides good examples illustrating these concepts. Other than the Card books, the only other book in the Writers Digest series that I have read is Description by Monica Wood, which I didn't find as informative or as illustrative. The examples were so poorly written they made me cringe while reading. That's not something you want a reader to do when reading a book based upon your purported expertise at writing.

I picked up The Hero with a Thousand Faces last summer but haven't had a chance to read it yet

 

[JRMurdock]

If you wish to steer away from books and know what podcasting is... try these.

I Should Be Writing: http://shouldwrite.blogspot.com
The Survival Guide to Writing Fantasy: http://www.teemorris.com/blog
The Kissy Bits: http://kissybits.blogspot.com (this is a romance writer podcast, but still good writing content)
and The Secrets (by Michael Stackpole) http://www.stormwolf.com

All of these podcasts are weekly (well, the secrets was until the holidays hit) and each has an interactive blog to ask questions and recieve answers (and they answer questions in the podcast). The community for these is small so getting something answered happens quickly. These are all good be you published or not.

Oh, and they're all free. Did I mention that part?

 

[Jamza1986]

You know, I really think that the best guide to fantasy writing is your own imagination. Its difficult to start building either a world or a story, but if you stick with it and refine it, it becomes easier. Just get some paper and let your mind go wandering for a while. The freedom and fun of imaginative writing is just unrestricted creativity.